Method and apparatus for abstracting internet content

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for abstracting Internet content is disclosed. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a terminal device having a user interface element that links a graphical user interface element to each internet resource identifier of one or more subject matters of interest defined in a profile by an end user, and presents the one or more graphical user interface elements in a graphical user interface window without association to an Internet browser. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/653,718, filed Oct. 17, 2012, which is acontinuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/549,420, filed Oct. 13, 2006 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,316,307) thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to abstraction techniques andmore specifically to a method and apparatus for abstracting Internetcontent.

BACKGROUND

Browsing the Internet for content is a common activity performed bymillions of consumers with Internet access. Internet browsers supportbookmarking of websites to accommodate repetitive use of certainwebsites by an end user. Typically, end users have a tendency to forgetwhich websites have been bookmarked and which have yet to be bookmarkedas the number of bookmarks created by said end user grows. Consequently,users can inadvertently repeat the bookmarking process for a websitethat has already been bookmarked, or they may inconveniently spend timesearching through bookmark folders to find a bookmark of interest.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a terminal device;

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary method operating in the terminal device;

FIGS. 3-8 depict exemplary embodiments of the terminal device forabstracting Internet content; and

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary diagrammatic representation of a machine inthe form of a computer system within which a set of instructions, whenexecuted, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure provide a methodand apparatus for abstracting Internet content.

In a first embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-readablestorage medium in a terminal device can have computer instructions forestablishing a profile of one or more subject matters of interest eachassociated with a corresponding Internet resource identifier (IRI),linking a Graphical User Interface (GUI) element to each IRI of the oneor more subject matters of interest, and presenting the one or more GUIelements in a GUI window without association to an Internet browser.

In a second embodiment of the present disclosure, a terminal device canhave a User Interface (UI) element that links a Graphical User Interface(GUI) element to each Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of one or moresubject matters of interest defined in a profile by an end user, andpresents said one or more GUI elements in a GUI window withoutassociation to an Internet browser.

In a third embodiment of the present disclosure, a method in a terminaldevice can have the step of presenting an end user of the terminaldevice a profile with a plurality of subject matters of interest withoutaccess to corresponding predefined Uniform Resource Locators (URLs),establishing in the profile one or more subject matters of interestselected by the end user from the plurality of subject matters ofinterest, linking a Graphical User Interface (GUI) element to eachpredefined URL of the one or more subject matters of interest selected,and presenting said one or more GUI elements in a GUI window withoutassociation to an Internet browser.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a terminal device 100. Theterminal device 100 can comprise a wireless or wireline transceiver 102,a user interface (UI) 104, a power supply 116, and a controller 103 formanaging operations of the foregoing components. The transceiver 102 canutilize common communication technologies to support singly or incombination any number of wireline access technologies such as cable,xDSL, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and so on.

Singly or in combination with the wireline technology, the transceiver102 can support singly or in combination any number of wireless accesstechnologies including without limitation Bluetooth™, Wireless Fidelity(WiFi), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), UltraWide Band (UWB), software defined radio (SDR), and cellular accesstechnologies such as CDMA-1×, W-CDMA/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS, TDMA/EDGE, andEVDO. SDR can be utilized for accessing public and private communicationspectrum with any number of communication protocols that can bedynamically downloaded over-the-air to the terminal device 100. Itshould be noted also that next generation wireline and wireless accesstechnologies can also be applied to the present disclosure.

The UI element 104 can include a keypad 106 with depressible or touchsensitive keys and a navigation element such as a navigation disk,button, roller ball, or flywheel for manipulating operations of theterminal device 100. The UI element 104 can further include a display108 such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) which canbe touch sensitive for manipulating operations of the terminal device100 and for conveying images to the end user of said device, and anaudio system 110 that utilizes common audio technology for conveying andintercepting audible signals of the end user.

The power supply 116 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable batteries, supply regulation technologies, andcharging system technologies for supplying energy to the components ofthe terminal device 100 and to facilitate portable applications.Depending on the type of power supply 116 used, the terminal device 100can represent an immobile or portable communication device. Thecontroller 103 can utilize computing technologies such as amicroprocessor and/or digital signal processor (DSP) with associatedstorage memory such a Flash, ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM or other liketechnologies for controlling operations of the terminal device 100.

The terminal device 100 can further represent a single operationaldevice or a family of devices configured in a master-slave arrangement.In the latter embodiment, the components of the terminal device 100 canbe reused in different form factors for the master and slave terminaldevices.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a method 200 operating in theterminal device 100. Method 200 begins with step 202 in which theterminal device 100 is programmed to present the end user of said devicea setup GUI window such as depicted in FIG. 3 to profile the subjectmatters of interest of the end user. In this GUI window, the end user ispresented in step 204 with a selection of possible subject matters ofinterest associated with weather, weather alerts, and a correspondingset of alerting methods. A setup GUI window for other subject matterscan also be presented such as, for example, subject matters relating tosports, news, finances, business, health, entertainment, education,politics, law, science, or technology—just to name a few. Theillustrations that follow in FIGS. 4-8 relate exclusively to the subjectmatter of weather. It would be evident to an artisan of ordinary skillin the art that other subject matters of interest can be applied to thepresent disclosure.

Referring back to step 204, the terminal device 100 can be programmed toinvoke the “My Weather Settings” GUI window of FIG. 3 by selecting a “MyWeather” GUI button under the “My Settings” GUI category shown in FIG.4. Although not shown in the “My Settings” GUI category, said GUIcategory could have other GUI buttons such as “My News”, “My Sports”,and so on, which the end user can configure profiles in a similarfashion to the “My Weather Settings” GUI window of FIG. 3.

Focus on the subject matter of weather, the setup GUI window of FIG. 3presents the end user with a location field in which a city, stateand/or zip code can be entered. In step 204, the terminal device 100 canuse this information to select from a large collection of possiblesubject matters of interest a subset of said interests and correspondingalert options that may be useful to the end user in his/her area. Thus,in the illustration of FIG. 3 the end user is presented with selectablesubject matters, alerts, and alert methods that s/he can choose fromwhich may be pertinent to the user in the San Antonio, Tex. area.

In step 206 the terminal device 100 can be programmed to monitor aselection by the end user from the subject matters and correspondingalerts and methods to alert. The user in this example has selected asdepicted by check marks in the check boxes under “Subject Matters” thesubjects: “Current” (which represents current weather conditions),“Radar”, “24 Hour Forecast”, and 7 Day Forecast” all of which arelocalized to the San Antonio, Tex. area. Additionally, the end user hasselected “Alerts” for tornados, severe weather, flash floods, and marinewarnings. The end user has further selected as alert methods an audiblering, flash or siren alert to be emanated from the terminal device 100,and/or an alert message submitted to his pager, cell phone, IP-TV,calling number (e.g., office number), or device capable of receivingemails.

Upon detecting a final selection of the subject matters and alerts (suchas by depressing the “Save” GUI button shown in FIG. 3), the terminaldevice 100 proceeds to step 208 where it generates one or more GUIelements corresponding to the selections made by the end user. In thisillustration, the GUI elements generated are a GUI button for each ofthe subject matters “Current”, “Radar”, “24 Hour Forecast”, and 7 DayForecast.” Each of these subject matters can have a predefined Internetresource identifier (IRI) stored in the terminal device 100 forextracting Internet content in relation to the type of subject matterselected. A service provider of a communication system from which theterminal device 100 operates can provide Internet service for weatherinformation associated with the IRIs discussed above. Alternatively, theservice provider can broker services from content providers (e.g.,weather.com or the weather channel) to support services for thesesubject matters.

An IRI can comprise at least one among a domain name (e.g.,hostname.domainname.com), the domain name and a corresponding portnumber (e.g., hostname.domainname.com, 80), an IP address (e.g.,151.164.1.100), or the IP address and a corresponding port number (e.g.,151.164.1.100, 80)—just to mention a few embodiments. The IRI canoperate according to any present or future access protocol (e.g., HyperText Transfer Protocol or HTTP). The IRI can also be defined as aUniform Resource Identifier (URI) or Uniform Resource Locator (URL). TheIRI can also comprise a tElephone NUmber Mapping (ENUM) identifier. Insum, the IRI can consist of any present or future means for identifyinga resource on any packet-switched network. For illustration purposesonly, the discussions below will focus on the use of URLs. It should beunderstood, however, that the URLs can be replaced with any embodimentof the IRI as described herein.

To remove the complexity for the user to enter URLs for theaforementioned subject “Current”, “Radar”, “24 Hour Forecast”, and 7 DayForecast,” the URL for each subject matter can be preprogrammed in theterminal device 100 and is not made visible or accessible to the enduser in the setup GUI window of FIG. 3. Alternatively or in combination,the end user can enter additional subject matters by selecting the “Add”GUI button shown in FIG. 3 and entering a name for the new subjectmatter and a corresponding URL. In this use case, step 208 would alsogenerate a GUI element for the new subject matter if selected in step206 by the end user.

Once the GUI elements described in step 208 have been generated, theterminal device 100 proceeds to step 210 where it links said predefinedURLs (and any URLs entered by the end user) to said GUI elements. Theterminal device 100 presents in step 212 these GUI elements as shown inFIG. 4 in the “My Weather” GUI category. The terminal device 100 can beprogrammed in step 212 to further display a portion of the Internetcontent associated with one or more of said GUI elements as a preview.For example, in the GUI button depicted as “Current” a currenttemperature of 79 degrees with winds out of the South at 12 miles perhour is previewed. The “Radar” GUI element can present a miniaturizedsnapshot or active radar also. In cases where there may be too muchinformation to preview, the GUI elements can present a picture image orjust text as depicted by the “24 Hour Forecast” and “7-Day Forecast” GUIelements.

The presentation of these GUI elements in step 212 is performed withouta common Internet browser. Consequently, these GUI elements have noassociation with bookmarks commonly used by prior art Internet browsers.By linking the URLs to said GUI elements, the end user can triggeraccess to Internet content by selecting a GUI element without opening anInternet browser and selecting a bookmark as is commonly done today. TheInternet content associated with the URL of a selected GUI element canbe retrieved and presented utilizing common techniques.

Thus, once the GUI elements have been presented in step 212, theterminal device 100 proceeds to step 214 where it monitors for a GUIselection by the end user. A selection can be performed with a stylus orfinger manipulation on a touch-screen display 108, or a roller ball canbe used to scroll between GUI elements and thereby direct a selection aGUI element by depressing said roller ball. If a selection is detected,the terminal device 100 proceeds to step 216 where it presents a GUIwindow with Internet content associated with the URL of the selected GUIelement. For example, a selection of the “Current” GUI element canresult in the GUI window of FIG. 5 with the related current weathercontent and with a presentation of the other unselected GUI elements inthe event the user wants to view additional subject matter such as“Radar”. FIGS. 6 and 7 demonstrate GUI windows in response to aselection of the “Radar” and “24 Hour Forecast”, respectively. FIG. 8shows similar presentations to the ones shown in FIGS. 4-7 in terminaldevice 100 having a handset form factor.

During the presentation of the GUI window in step 216, or if no GUIselection was detected in step 214, the terminal device 100 can proceedto step 218 where it monitors the alerts selected in step 206 as shownin FIG. 3. In this step, the terminal device 100 monitors alert signalssubmitted by a third party source over an IP connection. The alertsignal can be submitted, for example, by a third party system managingthe content associated with the URL. Alternatively, the alert signal canbe sourced by a local or national weather center which submits thisinformation to the Internet weather content server managing the URL ofinterest. Alerts monitored can include tornados, severe weatherwarnings, flash floods, and so forth.

The alert signal can be transmitted as a unicast or multicast IP signal,which is monitored by the terminal device 100 in step 218. If no alertevent is detected, the terminal device 100 proceeds to step 214 where itcontinues to monitor for GUI selections. If one or more alert events aredetected that are associated with the selections made by the end user instep 206, the terminal device 100 proceeds to step 216 where it submitsan alert to the end user.

The alert signal can be directed to the terminal device 100 such as byway of an audible alert, flashing lights, and/or a modification to theGUI element (e.g., changing the color of the GUI element, flashing GUIbutton, text alert superimposed on the GUI button, etc.). Alternatively,or in combination the terminal device 100 can submit an alert message toa communication device of the end user such as a pager, cell phone,multimedia device such as an IP-TV, a computing device (e.g., a laptop,PDA, or cell phone), or a conventional PSTN phone—just to mention aview.

The alert message can be an alphanumeric page directed to a pager, atext message such as a Short Message Service (SMS) message, asynthesized voice message indicating the type of alert directed to acell phone or other communication device, a multimedia message with textand graphics more or less like the illustrations of FIGS. 5-7 dependingon the presentation capabilities of the media device receiving saidalert, or an email message to one of said devices. Additionally, thealerts can be prioritized so that depending on the severity of the alertone or more of the selected alert methods is chosen by the terminaldevice 100 rather than all.

Upon reviewing the foregoing embodiments, it would be evident to anartisan with ordinary skill in the art that said embodiments can bemodified, reduced, or enhanced without departing from the scope andspirit of the claims described below. There are for instance innumerableviewable Internet content sources that an end user can profile anddevelop therefrom abstracted selectable GUI elements according to thepresent disclosure. It would be therefore evident to said artisan thatmany modifications can be made to the present disclosure withoutdeparting from the scope of the claims stated below. Accordingly, thereader is directed to the claims section for a fuller understanding ofthe breadth and scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary diagrammatic representation of a machine inthe form of a computer system 900 within which a set of instructions,when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed above. In some embodiments, the machine operatesas a standalone device. In some embodiments, the machine may beconnected (e.g., using a network) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient user machine in server-client user network environment, or as apeer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a desktopcomputer, a control system, a network router, switch or bridge, or anymachine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. It will beunderstood that a device of the present disclosure includes broadly anyelectronic device that provides voice, video or data communication.Further, while a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The computer system 900 may include a processor 902 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU, or both), a mainmemory 904 and a static memory 906, which communicate with each othervia a bus 908. The computer system 900 may further include a videodisplay unit 910 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel, asolid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system900 may include an input device 912 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 914 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 916, a signal generationdevice 918 (e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interfacedevice 920.

The disk drive unit 916 may include a machine-readable medium 922 onwhich is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 924)embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein, including those methods illustrated above. The instructions 924may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the mainmemory 904, the static memory 906, and/or within the processor 902during execution thereof by the computer system 900. The main memory 904and the processor 902 also may constitute machine-readable media.

Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to,application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays andother hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement themethods described herein. Applications that may include the apparatusand systems of various embodiments broadly include a variety ofelectronic and computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions intwo or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices withrelated control and data signals communicated between and through themodules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit.Thus, the example system is applicable to software, firmware, andhardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein are intended for operation as software programsrunning on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementationscan include, but not limited to, distributed processing orcomponent/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtualmachine processing can also be constructed to implement the methodsdescribed herein.

The present disclosure contemplates a machine readable medium containinginstructions 924, or that which receives and executes instructions 924from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a networkenvironment 926 can send or receive voice, video or data, and tocommunicate over the network 926 using the instructions 924. Theinstructions 924 may further be transmitted or received over a network926 via the network interface device 920.

While the machine-readable medium 922 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present disclosure.

The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken toinclude, but not be limited to: solid-state memories such as a memorycard or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile)memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile)memories; magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk or tape; andcarrier wave signals such as a signal embodying computer instructions ina transmission medium; and/or a digital file attachment to e-mail orother self-contained information archive or set of archives isconsidered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storagemedium. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any one ormore of a machine-readable medium or a distribution medium, as listedherein and including art-recognized equivalents and successor media, inwhich the software implementations herein are stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switchednetwork transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards are periodicallysuperseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentiallythe same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Otherembodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structuraland logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Figures are also merely representationaland may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may beexaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quicklyascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted withthe understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit thescope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing DetailedDescription, it can be seen that various features are grouped togetherin a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure.This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed embodiments require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separately claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage devicecomprising computer instructions which, responsive to being executed bya processor of a terminal device, cause the processor to performoperations comprising: generating a profile based on a selection ofsubject matters of interest from a group of subject matters of interestthat had been presented, wherein each subject matter of interest fromthe group of subject matters of interest is remotely sourced by acontent provider, wherein the group of subject matters of interest hadbeen presented without identifying the content providers, wherein eachof the subject matters of interest includes a subject identifier,wherein the selection of the subject matters of interest is associatedwith corresponding Internet resource identifiers by the terminal device,and wherein the selection of the subject matters of interest results inselected subject matters of interest; providing the profile with alertoptions triggered by event signals associated with the subject mattersof interest, wherein the alert options include asserting a first alertsignal at the terminal device and transmitting a second alert signal toa communication device; and presenting a matrix of graphical userinterface elements associated with Internet resource identifiers for theselected subject matters of interest in a graphical user interfacewindow, wherein the presenting the matrix is made without association toan Internet browser.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readable storagedevice of claim 1, wherein the subject matters of interest are to obtaininformation concerning events that are localized to a particular area,and wherein the operations further comprise presenting, in a setupgraphical user interface window, the group of subject matters ofinterest.
 3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device ofclaim 2, wherein the events comprise one of current events, futureevents or a combination thereof.
 4. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage device of claim 1, wherein the alert options are prioritized andwherein one alert option from among the alert options is selected basedon a determination of a severity associated with one of the eventsignals, and wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processorsoperating in a distributed processing environment.
 5. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the alert optionsinclude an option to transmit a third alert signal to a multimediadevice for display of the third alert signal at an internet protocoltelevision.
 6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device ofclaim 1, wherein the first alert signal causes a modification of one ofthe graphical user interface elements, and wherein the event signals aregenerated by a third party.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage device of claim 1, wherein the first alert signal causes one ofan audible alert, a visual alert or a combination thereof.
 8. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein thecommunication device comprises a pager, and wherein the second alertsignal corresponds to a page.
 9. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage device of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises awireless phone, and wherein the second alert signal corresponds to oneof a voice message or an email.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage device of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises awireline phone, and wherein the second alert signal corresponds to avoice message.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage deviceof claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises a mobilecommunication device, and wherein the second alert signal corresponds toa short message service message.
 12. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the subject mattersof interest correspond to at least one among sports, news, weather,finances, business, health, entertainment, education, politics, law,science, and technology, and wherein the Internet resource identifierscomprise at least one among a domain name, the domain name and acorresponding port number, an IP address, and the IP address and acorresponding port number.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage device of claim 1, wherein each content provider is determinedbased on a pre-existing agreement to provide content for at least aportion of the subject matters of interest, and wherein the pre-existingagreement is between the content provider and a communication serviceprovider of the terminal device.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: presenting a location field with the profile;identifying location data supplied by user input in the location field;and selecting at least one among the subject matters of interest and thealert options according to the location data.
 15. A terminal device,comprising: a memory that stores computer instructions; a display; and acontroller coupled with the memory and the display, wherein thecontroller, responsive to executing the computer instructions, performsoperations comprising: generating a profile based on a selection ofsubject matters of interest from a group of subject matters of interestthat had been presented, wherein each subject matter of interest fromthe group of subject matters of interest is remotely sourced by acontent provider, wherein the group of subject matters of interest hadbeen presented without identifying the content providers, wherein eachof the subject matters of interest includes a subject identifier,wherein the selection of the subject matters of interest is associatedwith corresponding Internet resource identifiers, and wherein theselection of the subject matters of interest results in selected subjectmatters of interest; providing the profile with a group of alert optionstriggered by event signals associated with the subject matters ofinterest, wherein the event signals are received from a communicationdevice operated by a third party, and wherein the group of alert optionsare prioritized based on event severity; presenting, on the display, amatrix of graphical user interface elements associated with Internetresource identifiers for the selected subject matters of interest in agraphical user interface window, wherein the presenting is made withoutassociation to an Internet browser; and selecting a target alert optionfrom among the group of alert options based on a determination of aseverity associated with a target event signal from among the eventsignals.
 16. The terminal device of claim 15, wherein the subjectmatters of interest are to obtain information concerning current andfuture events that are localized to a particular area, and wherein theoperations further comprise presenting, in a setup graphical userinterface window, the group of subject matters of interest.
 17. Theterminal device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprisetransmitting a first alert signal to the communication device, whereinthe alert options include asserting a second alert signal at the displaythat is one of an audible alert, a visual alert or a combinationthereof, and wherein the controller comprises a plurality of processorsoperating in a distributed processing environment.
 18. The terminaldevice of claim 17, wherein: the alert options include transmitting athird alert signal to a multimedia device that displays the third alertsignal at an internet protocol television; the communication devicecomprises a mobile communication device; and the second alert signalcorresponds to a short message service message.
 19. A method,comprising: generating, by a terminal device, a profile that includessubject matters of interest selected, based on user input, from among agroup of subject matters of interest that had been presented, whereineach subject matter of interest from the group of subject matters ofinterest is remotely sourced by a content provider, wherein the group ofsubject matters of interest had been presented without providing accessto corresponding predefined uniform resource locators, wherein the groupof subject matters of interest had been presented without identifyingcorresponding content providers associated with the predefined uniformresource locators, wherein the profile includes a group of alert optionstriggered by event signals associated with the subject matters ofinterest, wherein the event signals are associated with a third partydevice, wherein the group of alert options are prioritized based onevent severity, and wherein selection of the subject matters of interestresults in selected subject matters of interest; and presenting, by theterminal device in a graphical user interface window, a matrix ofgraphical user interface elements associated with the predefined uniformresource locators of the selected subject matters of interest, whereinthe presenting is made without association to an Internet browser. 20.The method of claim 19, further comprising presenting by the terminaldevice, in a setup graphical user interface window, the group of subjectmatters of interest, wherein the subject matters of interest are toobtain information concerning current and future events that arelocalized to a particular area.